Inactivity Kills Just Like Cigarettes – Be Active, Live Longer

It has been mentioned several time in several ways by several people under several situations and also here on this site that inactivity or sedentary lifestyle with bad dietary habitscould lead to obesity with all its associated complications. The message is now being forcefully brought to our attention by a recent study published in The Lancet by Dr. I.M. Lee et al. The study came out with the fact that at the very least, living an inactive life kills as much as cigarette smoking does.

The study found that on a global scale, physical inactivity was associated with:

a) 6% of the incidence of coronary heard diseases.

b) 7% of diabetes type 2 incidence.

c) 10% of breast cancer incidence.

d) 10% of colon cancer incidence.

The study also found that the global mortality burden of physical inactivity is about 5.3 million deaths a year, a figure slightly higher than the 5 million attributed to cigarette smoking.

Physical inactivity was defined in the study as activity level below the WHO recommendations (i.e. less than 150 minutes per week of moderate physical activity such as brisk walking).

Dr. Lee et al concluded that eliminating physical inactivity globally would give the world’s population a gain of 0.68 years in life expectancy on the average.

We feel compelled to bring you this very important medical information because we believe it may have a positive impact on your life.

Please read and feel free to share this page with friends and family. You never can know whose life you may be saving by doing so.

You can be sure i will be up by 6 am in the morning walking briskly for my life. Can you say the same?

Source

Lee I.M. et al “Effect if physical inactivity on major non-communicable diseases worldwide: an analysis of burden of disease and life expectancy” Lancet 2012; DO1: 10.1016/20140-6736(12)61031-9.